New Israeli hunt for rebels

Israeli troops entered Bethlehem today in what military sources said was a fresh sweep for Palestinian militants.

It was the second time since Saturday that the army had entered the city and witnesses reported seeing several dozen jeeps and armoured troop-carriers.

Palestinian security sources said soldiers also searched houses in several nearby towns but there were no reports of clashes.

Soldiers in jeeps had driven into Manger Square, at the heart of Bethlehem, and closed off access to the Church of the Nativity, which sits on the spot revered as the place where Jesus was born, an Israeli military source said.

The church was the site of a five-week standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen, lifted earlier this month when 39 militants inside who were wanted by Israel agreed to go into exile in Europe or to the Gaza Strip.

Today's action was the latest in a series of Israeli incursions following four suicide bomb attacks last week.